Door Jam: July 22, 2013

This week’s Door Jam gives answers these questions: Do we have space and time backwards? Will retweeting help you avoid hell? What’s Darryl Strawberry doing behind the pulpit? How can you write better? What is the greatest blog post in the history of mankind EVER?

OK, maybe that last one is a little hyperbolic, but nonetheless here are five interesting stories to start off your week.

Maybe Yesterday Really is so Far Away

What if, contrary to just about everything physicists have been telling us since before Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is not really a fourth dimension indistinguishable from the other three? What if “spacetime,” such a wonderful sci-fi word for that 4-D continuum, is more fiction than science, and time really does exist on its own? That’s the idea put forth by theoretical physicist Lee Smolin in his recent book, Time Reborn.

I’m sure there are some theological implications from such a view, but I’ll leave it to those smarter in science and theology to point those out.

No, a Retweet of the Pope on Your iPhone Ring, Does not a Soul From Purgatory Spring*

Here were the tantalizingly weird headlines: “Follow pope online, get to heaven sooner – Facebook likes don’t count.” “Cut your time in purgatory by following pope on Twitter.” And, worst of all, from Slate: “Pope now offering indulgences in exchange for Twitter followers.” …

Is anyone shocked that the media went for the wrong, but catchy headline versus actually reporting the truth of the matter that was a bit more – OK, a lot more – theologically nuanced? No, huh? Me, either.

Out of the Batter’s Box, Into the Pulpit

Darryl Strawberry, the former outfield great, is no longer. But Darryl Strawberry, the ordained minister in this town 30 miles west of St. Louis, is very much alive.

“I’m over ‘Strawberry,’” he said. “I’m over Mets. I’m over Yankees. I don’t want to exist as Darryl Strawberry, the baseball player. … That person is dead.”

During his peak, Strawberry was one of the greatest baseball players in the game, but his peak was not as long as it should have been because he threw it away on drugs. I pray that God will use Strawberry the pastor to showcase His redemptive power.

10 Writing Tips From an Author of 10 Books

I felt called to write when I was 22, but it took 13 years to write my first book. I actually self-published it just to prove to myself that I could write a book. My first published book was In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. Book #10, All In, will release September 24.

I feel as called to write as I do to pastor. For me, writing is an act of obedience. It’s not about how many copies you sell. It’s about writing for an audience of one. I don’t type on my keyboard. I pray on it and worship on it. I also take my shoes off when I write because it’s holy ground.

I understand writing as a calling and worship. I also understand it as work. Mark Batterson makes it clear that success at writing comes through obeying God in working hard at the craft. If you want to write, then do it, but it takes dedication and effort.

The Greatest Blog Post Ever in the History of the Internet of All Time. Ever.

Although Lewis died only 50 years ago, and was famous enough to appear on the cover of Time Magazine (September 8, 1947), not a single video clip of him has survived (if such were ever taken).

If you’ve never heard C.S. Lewis himself speak and are interested, here are some free samples online, along with a place to order the rest that are known.

Sure, I be over-exaggerating a touch on the greatness of this post, but Justin Taylor did something that I had planned on doing – compiling all of the known audio of C.S. Lewis into a single blog post. It really is intriguing to hear his voice, after reading his work for so many years.

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See a story or blog post that I should highlight in Door Jam, let me know in the comment section or via Twitter or Facebook.